You Can NOT Isolate the VMO Muscle!

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Shout out @Muscle and Motion with the amazing anatomy graphics.

[hobama]

btw kneesovertoes guy never said you can isolate the vmo, he just said you can bias it by squatting deeper and having your knees further over your toes. his shit is still top notch

[brown]

That squat should be in every sport science textbook ever

[nw]

VMO activation is highest during upper 15% of motion (Reverse Step Ups) and lower 15% of the motion of knee flexion (Slant Board Squat).

[stevefoxrox]

KOT guy Ben Patrick never said you could isolate the VMO, he said you can target it preferentially based on squat depth/angles which this video later confirms, despite the click bait title based on a false dichotomy

[orbitaltempest]

This is like making a vid saying you can't isolate the upper chest. No shit but you can emphasize it more.

[adamjuhasz]

For anyone who has doubts of what Kneesovertoesguy said, just do a set of 50 poliquin step up, then see for yourself that the VMO is gonna burn like crazy

[birinderwarraich]

I have been doing cyclist squats, atg split squats and poliquin steps with weights and a full knee bend, my vmo has grown seriously big.

[efficientfuture]

I was just about to say snatches and C&J definitely grow the Vastus medialis.
Not isolated but definitely stimulated from bottoming out squats. Nobody knows what a true ass to grass squat is until they catch a snatch at the bottom

[felixbush]

Ryan Humiston did a good video disputing this. Although the vmo technically originates in the same place as the vastus medialis. There are certain angles which favour training the vmo shown. Much like how the pec major is technically one muscle but u can align better with certain fibres from different leverages

[jonahwantenaar]

Everyone’s so confused, Ben has never said you can isolate the VMO. He’s only said exactly what this video says “the deeper you squat the more activation you get out of the VMO. You’d have to be a total moron to believe the rest of the musculature crossing the same joint would just shut off and allow one muscle to do all the work. For all of you saying “Ben was wrong” well I’m afraid you suffer from a condition known as “not listening”! Everything stated in this video in regards to not being able to isolate the VMO is not only exactly what kneesovertoesguy has always said, but literally common sense if you just think about it.

[Jmnp]

This is wrong
You are assuming knee functions a pure hinge... it doesn't
There is rotation and varus/valgus force that will infact activate some fibers more than others. This is despite the common and broad insertion.

[panexplosivoh]

ok but you can still preferntialy train the VMO by squatting below 90 degrees, not isolation but still utilizing the VMO more than the rest of the quad muscles, also a big premise of ben patricks programme is that strengening the VMO more that the othet quad muscles reduces knee pain. is that false?

[caelinlee]

Okay listen… for those criticizing this video, please feel free to read.

I love Ben, but sometimes he can be wrong. Squat U gets things wrong too, we all can be. However, in this video he’s pretty factual. Deep squatting and extending from a fully flexed position can *somewhat emphasize the medialis because of the direction of the fibers and how they *somewhat keep the knees from valgus and internal rotation… BUT it’s typically not a significant difference. And that’s only based on a couple studies of EMG data which is not entirely indicative of hypertrophy. Just squat deep and enjoy developing the whole quad and having healthy knees (and others). 🙂

[ArkbladeIX]

I don't get why people are saying he's contradicting kotg. They're saying the same thing people! Do we not even have enough attention span to watch a whole short anymore?

[garouthetiktokinfluencerhu]

This can be misleading
Most exercises don’t isolate a muscle. You can’t isolate but definitely can pick exercises that favor them.

[The_Kirk_Lazarus]

KOTG would like it if you'd please stop click-baiting people about VMO activation and to at least acknowledge the Poliquin step-up shown near the end of this clip.

[dojanglesclimb]

What is this video trying to prove exactly? By this definition, no muscles can be isolated. But you can certainly use specific exercises to target any muscle including the VMO. As a comment below says, Poliquin Step Up is one example.

[taunohill]

It feels like you’re saying yes and no, and yes and no

[leonelmartinez]

Although you can't isolate the vmo there are ways to train it better.

[brianfox]

I've always felt like I couldn't target the teardrop no matter what I did. I feel less crazy.